God is with us

Matthew 1:18-23

The mother of Jesus Christ was Mary. And this is how the birth of Jesus came about. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, she learned that she was going to have a baby. She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly. While Joseph thought about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son. You will name the son Jesus. Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins.” All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel.” This name means “God is with us.”

Food for thought

Jesus was born by the action of the Holy Spirit, or as the gospel reading says, "through the Holy Spirit." The birth of Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. This statement is of extreme importance because it spells out the purpose of Jesus' coming; it helps us appreciate what Jesus came to do, and why Jesus came.

Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. This means that the child conceived in Mary was not from some man but was from the Holy Spirit. Let us try to understand the significance of this by going back to the Old Testament (OT).

We know from the OT that it was through his Spirit that God performed his creating work. The Book of Genesis says that God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. And God’s Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, and chaos became a world (Genesis 1:2).

Again the OT says, "When you send forth your spirit, they are created." (Psalm 104:30); "The spirit of God has made me," said Job, "and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" ( Job 33:4). As you can see, the Holy Spirit is the Creator of the World and the Giver of Life. So, if Jesus came through the Holy Spirit, it means that in Jesus there came into the world God’s life-giving and creating power.

Jesus came and comes to bring order to our disordered lives, families, relationships; he came and comes to breathe life into our weaknesses and frustrations. Jesus gives life to the lifeless; he gives hope to the hopeless; he gives meaning to life. It means that we are not really alive until Jesus enters into our lives.

In Jesus the Spirit of God came and comes to us. As the Bible puts it, "I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live" (Ezekiel 37:14). If Jesus came and comes through and by the Holy Spirit, it means that in Jesus there came to this world of ours the power which can re-create life. Jesus can bring to life again the soul which is dead in sin and revive again the ideals which have died; Jesus can rekindle our lost dreams, our lost ideals. He can renew life when and where people have lost all that life means.

Jesus is the creating power come among us, the re-creating power which can release us from the death to life, from hopelessness to hopefulness, helplessness to helpfulness, from meaningless living to meaningful living. If you claim to be Christian don't ever get despaired; be hopeful knowing that "all things go well for those who trust him." (Romans 8:28) because finally God-is-with-us (Emmanuel) in all our ups and downs, our trials and victories, our failures and successes.

Jesus said, “Be sure of this: I am with you ALWAYS, until the end of time.” (Mt 28:20).

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10).

"The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." (Psalm 46:7).